(New York-WABC, February 17, 2004) -- They have become the heroes of New York. But now thousands of firefighters are caught in the middle of a nasty battle between a local charity and city officials.
All the while, thousands of dollars in donated merchandise sits, unused, in a warehouse. The Investigators' Sarah Wallace joins us with her exclusive story.
The question: is the Fire Department derailing a highly effective donation program because of a personality clash and petty politics? Officials argue they're simply concerned that proper procedures be followed. Whatever the case, the bottom line is thousands of firefighters are the ones paying the price.
A loading dock in Jersey City where scores of brand new dishwashers and high-end leather couches are all gathering dust.
It's the same situation at a warehouse in Long Island city where stacks and stacks of mattresses earmarked for New York city firehouses by generous companies like 1-800 Mattress are just sitting there. So what's the hold-up?
It's all about a woman who fire department officials have now barred from entering firehouses. What's her crime? In the past three years, Carol Ann Francis has run a highly successful charity program, Adopt-a-Firehouse, getting major companies to donate thousands of dollars worth of items to firehouses in all five boroughs.
Carol Ann Francis, Adopt-a-Firehouse: "Over 155 firehouses benefited from over a million dollars worth of brand new appliances and furniture."
The program began several months prior to 9/11 when Francis started filming at several firehouses for a documentary entitled, "These Men of Conscience".
Carol Ann Francis: "There were a lot of appliances that were broken, that were old, that were used, that were leaking."
So Francis decided to do something. She'd get wish lists from captain and lieutenants, and then contact companies who willingly gave merchandise.
Carol Ann Francis: "We cut through all red tape."
Francis kept hundreds of letters from captains and lieutenants thanking her program for the merchandise.
But then in October a memo began circulating, telling firehouses Carol Ann Francis was not permitted inside, and warning units not to solicit any gifts from her program without prior approval from the Chief of Operations.
Carol Ann Francis: "I was never contacted."
Department sources say what sparked the order was a complaint from Bloomingdale's which wasn't even a participant in Adopt-a-Firehouse. A letter to Francis accuses her of using threats and intemperate language to try and get Bloomingdale's to donate to the program.
An FDNY statement goes further, saying:
"Several Retailers expressed concerns that they were being pressured into cooperating. This is clearly unacceptable and the Department will not be party to such tactics."Francis denies the accusations, and adds:
-- Nicholas Scoppetta, FDNY Commissioner
Carol Ann Francis: "The idea that the FDNY responded by single-handedly destroying this program because of one complaint from Bloomingdale's is unconscionable."
And several vendors we spoke with who've actually provided products say they've been totally satisfied with the program.
Sarah Wallace: "How many are here?" Luis Barragan, 1-800 MATTRESS: "Hundred and fifty. It is disappointing, to say the least that we have these beds that will provide better rest for them, and they're not being distributed."
The Fire Department would not make a single official available to be interviewed for this story, but a spokesman maintains that anyone can donate goods or services as long as the donations are within the city's guidelines and approval is granted by the Chief of Operations. The argument is that Adopt-A-Firehouse did not do that.
"The captains and lieutenants never told me, ever, once, in three years ... 'You have to go downtown to get permission, or we have to go downtown to get permission to accept this."
No firefighters would show their faces, worried about Department retaliation. But this one's thoughts are typical.
Firefighter: "The stuff is old. It's hard to get stuff from the city, someone wants to do something nice for you, there's no reason for politics to stop it."
What's particularly too bad is that the city often does not supply equipment for firehouses and when it does, requests often take months to process. One case where Adopt-a-Firehouse was especially effective was the August blackout. Within a few hours, the program -- not the city -- had secured several back-up generators for firehouses.
